Study for 1939 New York World's Fair Mural, Hall of Medical Science

Arts of the Americas

1938–39

Ilya Bolotowsky (American, born Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire, now Russia, 1907–1981)

Ilya Bolotowsky produced this abstract painting in preparation for a large-scale mural that was installed in the Hall of Medical Science at the 1939 New York World’s Fair. With its play of color and array of straight lines and gently curving forms, the work reflects the artist’s desire to create balanced, harmonious compositions. A founding member of the American Abstract Artists group in 1936, Bolotowsky and other leading artists promoted the value of nonobjective painting, including for public spaces. Fair organizers positioned the mural, along with three others by his peers, above the entryways to offer visual relief from the dense, scientific technical displays on view in the hall.

Status: Currently Off View
Department: Arts of the Americas

Artist: Ilya Bolotowsky
Title: Study for 1939 New York World's Fair Mural, Hall of Medical Science
Place: United States (Artist's nationality:)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: c. 1938–1939
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 76.2 × 121.9 cm (30 × 48 in.)
Credit Line: Wilson L. Mead Fund
Reference Number: 1977.1
Copyright: © Estate of Ilya Bolotowsky/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY

Ilya Bolotowsky et al., Ilya Bolotowsky, exh. cat. (Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, 1974), 37, cat. 5 (ill.), as Oil Study for Mural for Health Building, Hall of Medical Science, New York World’s Fair.
Washburn Gallery, WPA, exh. cat. (Wasburn Gallery, 1974), n.p. (ill.), as Model for New York World’s Fair Mural, Hall of Medical Science.
Deborah Rosenthal, “American Abstraction,” Arts Magazine 51, no. 4 (Dec. 1976): 9 (ill.), as Final Study for New York World’s Fair Mural, Hall of Medical Science.
Tom Armstrong and Bernd Growe, Amerikanische Malerei, 1930–1980 [American Painting, 1930–1980], exh. cat. (Munich: Prestel-Verlag, 1981), 92, fig. 85 (ill.), as Oil Study for Mural for Health Building, Hall of Medical Science, New York World’s Fair.
John R. Lane and Susan C. Larsen, Abstract Painting and Sculpture in America, 1927–1944, exh. cat. (Pittsburgh: Museum of Art, Carnegie Institute, 1983), cat. 13.
Normal L. Kleeblatt and Susan Chevlowe, eds., Painting a Place in America: Jewish Artists in New York, 1900–1945: A Tribute to the Educational Alliance Art School, exh. cat. (Jewish Museum, 1991), 77, cat. 20, pl. 5 (ill.), as Study for New York’s World’s Fair Mural, Hall of Medical Science.
Judith A. Barter, et al., American Modernism at the Art Institute of Chicago, From World War I to 1955 (Art Institute of Chicago, 2009), 34, 260–262, cat. 125 (ill.).
Jody Patterson, “Modernism and Murals at the 1939 New York World’s Fair”, American Art 24, no. 2 (Summer 2010): 50, 55–56, 58–59 (mural ill.)
Judith A. Barter, ed., America After the Fall: Painting in the 1930s, exh. cat. (Art Institute of Chicago, 2016), 79, cat. 6 (ill.).
Yang Zhigang, ed., Pathways to Modernism: American Art, 1865–1945, exh. cat. (Shanghai: Shanghai Book and Painting Press, 2018), cat. 59.

New York, Washburn Gallery, WPA, Mar. 13–Apr. 13, 1974, no cat. no.
New York, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Ilya Bolotowsky, Sept. 20–Nov. 11, 1974, cat. 5.
New York, Washburn Gallery, American Abstract Painting from the 1930s and 1940s, Sept. 9–Oct. 2, 1976.
Munich, Haus der Kunst, Amerikanische Malerei, 1930–1980 [American Painting, 1930–1980], Nov. 14, 1981–Jan. 31, 1982, cat., as Oil Study for Mural for Health Building, Hall of Medical Science, New York World’s Fair.
Pittsburgh, Museum of Art, Carnegie Institute, Abstract Painting and Sculpture in America, 1927–1944, Nov. 5–Dec. 31, 1981, cat. 13; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Jan. 26–Mar. 25, 1984; Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Apr. 15–June 3, 1984; New York, Whitney Museum of American Art, June 28–Sept. 9, 1984.
New York, Jewish Museum, Painting a Place in America: Jewish Artists in New York, 1900–1945, May 16–Sept. 29, 1991, cat. 20, as Study for New York’s World’s Fair Mural, Hall of Medical Science.
Art Institute of Chicago, America After the Fall: Painting in the 1930s, June 5–Sept. 18, 2016, cat. 6; Paris, Musée de l’Orangerie, Oct. 15, 2016–Jan. 30, 2017; London, Royal Academy, Feb. 25–June 4, 2017.
Shanghai Museum, Pathways to Modernism: American Art, 1865–1945, Sept. 28, 2018–Jan. 6, 2019, cat. 59.
Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University, Bloomington, Swing Landscape: Stuart Davis and the Modernist Mural, Feb. 5–May 22, 2022.

The artist, 1938–39, to at least 1974 [Bolotowsky 1974, 37]; sold through the Washburn Gallery, New York, to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1977.

Audio stop 729.mp3 <li class="m-listing m-listing--inline m-listing--sound"> <div class="m-listing__link"> <div class="m-listing__meta--sound"> Audio stop 729.mp3 </div> <div> <audio class="video-js vjs-fluid m-vjs-audio " data-gtm-prefix="audio" data-gtm-title="Audio stop 729.mp3" controls > <source src="https://www.artic.edu/assets/39687c69-9e24-1a44-b433-649b69148c8c" type="audio/mpeg"> Your browser does not support the audio tag. </audio> </div> </div> </li>

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

Currently Off View

Status

Department

Artist

Title

Place

Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

Medium

Dimensions

Credit Line

Reference Number

Copyright

Explore Further

Suggested Terms

Study for 1939 New York World's Fair Mural, Hall of Medical Science

Currently Off View

Date:

Artist:

About this artwork

Status

Department

Artist

Title

Place

Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

Medium

Dimensions

Credit Line

Reference Number

Copyright

Extended information about this artwork

Publication History

Exhibition History

Provenance

Multimedia

Share

Explore Further

Sign up for our enewsletter to receive updates.

Gallery actions

Image actions

Share